CALIFORNIA RESEARCH BUREAUCALIFORNIA STATE LIBRARYStudies in the News

California -- One Hundred and Fifty Years Ago

March 1854 - "Romualdo Pacheco began his political career in 1854, when he was elected judge of the San Luis Obispo Superior Court. His fluency in English and Spanish, in addition to his ability to garner the support of both prominent Californio families and the newly-arrived Anglos, contributed to his political success.... An excellent horseman, Pacheco engaged in ranching and his expertise with the lasso made him the only California Governor known to have roped a grizzly bear. He also did some mining during the California Gold Rush." www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/congress/pacheco.html

- "Romualdo Pacheco was the only Hispanic who has served as Governor of California. He was born in Santa Barbara, California on October 31, 1831. During his service as Lieutenant Governor, Pacheco was warden of the San Quentin penitentiary, where he worked to ameliorate conditions. In 1875, when Newton Booth was elected to the U.S. Senate, Pacheco became Governor of California. In this position he stressed the importance of higher education and worked for the development of the University of California and the State Normal School in San Francisco. " www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/congress/pacheco.html

Studies in the News is a very current compilation of items significant to the Legislature and Governor's Office. It is created weekly by the State Library's Research Bureau to supplement the public policy debate in California’s Capitol. To help share the latest information with state policymakers, these reading lists are now being made accessible through the State Library’s website. This week's list of current articles in various public policy areas is presented below.

Service to State Employees:

When available, the URL for the full text of each item is provided.

Items in the State Library collection can be checked out to state officials and staff.

Access to all materials listed will be provided by the State Information Reference Center, either by e-mail to cslsirc@library.ca.gov or by calling 654-0261.

["New approaches to representing clients with diminished capacity are embodied in revisions [to] ... the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct.... The Model Rules serve as the basis for most professional conduct codes that govern lawyers at the state level."]

["[Reports on the California Youth Authority] are related to negotiations over a lawsuit recently filed by the Prison Law Office against the CYA alleging a smorgasbord of ills, from inadequate mental health services to excessively harsh practices for controlling violent inmates.... For years CYA insiders have argued that if the state didn't move faster to fix the system, advocates would sue. It didn't. And they did." Los Angeles Times (February 16, 2004) B1.]

["Using the Resurrection Project of Chicago as a prime example, Skerry proposes a new synthesis in U.S. immigrant policy that holds within it the potential to not only naturalize, but to also suitably integrate immigrants into American society."]

California County Population Estimates and Components of Change, July 1, 2000-2003: Sacramento, California. By the California Department of Finance. (The Department, Sacramento, California) February 2004.

["California's population grew by another 600,000 in the year ending June 30, 2003, to nearly 36 million people, according to the latest numbers released by the Department of Finance. For the first time this decade, the natural increase (births over deaths) was greater than the increase from net migration..... As 300,000 foreign immigrants -- legal and illegal -- arrive in California, another 500,000-plus babies are born and 200,000 or so Californians die." Sacramento Bee (February 15, 2004) A1.]

["State Has Less Pull for New Arrivals: California's share of recent immigrants has fallen, study says.... California's share of the nation's new arrivals dropped sharply between 1990 and 2000, snapping a long-standing trend as immigrants looked elsewhere in the country for jobs and housing, USC researchers said.... California, which attracted 38 percent of immigrants in the 1990 census, saw that proportion tumble to about 25 percent in the 2000 census." Sacramento Bee (February 18, 2004) A3.]

["Conceptually, a compulsory license falls midway between granting full copyright, which gives owners broad control, and denying copyright protection altogether.... A compulsory license forces copyright owners to allow use of their works under legislatively set prices and restrictions on use."]

["Discouraged by high costs and strict regulations, just under 60 percent of California business leaders interviewed for a new study said they have policies to restrict job growth in the state or move jobs to other locations in the United States..... The cost of doing business in California is about 30 percent higher than in the average Western state, largely because of higher wages and benefits, according to the study." San Francisco Chronicle (Febrary 24, 2004) A1.]

["GAO said in a report that the Federal Reserve Board should become the lead regulator for banking companies' mortgage lending subsidiaries.... David Wood, the GAO's director of financial markets, urged Congress to give the Fed 'clear authority ' to monitor and examine the subsidiaries and to take enforcement actions against them for consumer-protection violations." The American Banker (February 25, 2004) 12.]

["The Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1997, which imposed a moratorium on taxing Internet access, expired in November 2003. The House passed legislation to continue the moratorium; but the Senate has failed to pass a corresponding bill. Critics of the House bill contend mistakenly that it does more than extend the moratorium and threatens states' ability to collect sales taxes. Even if this were the case though, economic analysis predicts that such taxes would reduce GDP, disposable income, and employment." Heritage Foundation (February 11, 2004) online.]

Secretary Paige Announces New Policies to Help English Language Learners: States, School Districts Will Have Greater Flexibility to Assist Limited English Proficient Students: Press Release. By The U. S. Department of Education (The Department, Washington, DC) February 19, 2004. 1 p.

["The Bush administration moved ... to defuse mounting criticism of its landmark No Child Left Behind law by announcing a significant relaxation of testing requirements for students with limited knowledge of English. The new regulations will make it easier for schools to meet the annual targets set by the Department of Education and aimed at bringing the performance of all U.S. students up to grade level in math and reading by 2014." Washington Post (February 20, 2004) A1.]

["Federal accountability requirements have derailed state education reforms and assessment strategies, according to an analysis released ... by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University.... The four-part report contends that the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act have no common meaning across state lines, and that the law's sanctions fall especially hard on minority and integrated schools, requiring much less student progress from affluent suburban schools." Public Education Network Weekly (February 20, 2004) 1.]

["Report: English-learning Students' Progress Stymied: California students who are still learning English are taking too long to master their new language, which puts them at risk of falling behind in math and reading and hampering their education, according to a report.... Students who are 'still learning English in grades 4, 5 and 6 risk falling behind in academic proficiency and failing to master the skills needed for success in middle and high school' the report said." Associated Press State & Local Wire (February 12, 2004) 1.]

["UC, CSU Admissions Need Tweak: The University of California and California State University won't have to take the drastic measure of turning away eligible students to cope with the state budget crisis if they change who they're considering for admissions, according to a state report.... Under the 1960 Master Plan, UC should be choosing its students from the top 12.5 percent of high school graduates. Legislative Analyst's office says it may be picking from the top 20.5 percent." Contra Costa Times (February 14, 2004) F4.]

["This research brief describes one of the largest and longest running school-based violence prevention programs in the country -— the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program. The brief is designed to inform federal, state, and local policymakers and opinion leaders, as well as program developers and managers at the local level, of an effective strategy for directly addressing the problem of violence among children and youth."]

["Latinos, particularly immigrant construction and service workers, have filled a disproportionate number of the jobs created during the national economic recovery.... The number of employed Latinos rose by 659,641 to 17.7 million between the fourth quarter of 2002 and the fourth quarter of 2003, according to a study." San Diego Union-Tribune (February 24, 2004) A1.]

["The 760,000 figure is based on previously released data for December, just-released data for January, and a Center estimate for February. New Labor Department data for January show that about 350,000 individuals exhausted their regular unemployment benefits last month and received no further unemployment assistance. In no other month on record, with data available back to 1971, have there been so many 'exhaustees.'"]

["A San Francisco city legislator introduced an ordinance that would let the city pick new electricity suppliers and sharply increase its use of renewable energy like solar and wind power. The measure would allow San Francisco to set up a community power buyers program to combine the electricity loads of its 780,000 residents and businesses." Plantark.com (February 19, 2004). 1]

["Responding to the California Public Utilities Commission draft decision, Commissioner Lynch issued an alternate draft decision for allocating $71 million in public goods charge funding for 2004-05 energy efficiency programs. The alternate decision approves programs originally recommended in the draft decision, issued in December, plus two additional programs that received high evaluation scores. The alternate decision also allocates funding to five new programs that received high scores but did not receive a staff funding recommendation." Newswire (February 18, 2004) online.]

Strategies for Establishing an Environmental Health Surveillance System in California: A Report of the SB 702 Expert Working Group. By Joyce C. Lashof, University of California, Berkeley, and others. (California Policy Research Center, Berkeley, California) February 2004.

["A group of scientific experts urged state officials to set up a statewide surveillance system to track diseases and possible links with environmental hazards.... The group recommends that the state Department of Health Services and the California Environmental Protection Agency set up an interagency Office of Environmental Health Tracking to oversee a surveillance system." Contra Costa Times (February 24, 2004) F4.]

["The Census Bureau seems to count all the land in a town's legal boundaries, and that sometimes includes a lot of land.... Both the Census and the Natural Resource Inventory agree that about 95 percent of the U.S. remains rural open space, even applying the most liberal use of the term 'developed.'"]

["An analysis by California Lawyer of contested superior court races from 1996 to 2002 reveals that though some spending has increased, about half of winners still spend less than $75,000 to secure their seats.... The study bucks conventional wisdom that the costs of those elections has skyrocketed."]

["There was broad agreement among participants at the forum on the key characteristics and capabilities of high-performing organizations, which comprise four themes as follows: A clear, well-articulated, and compelling mission; Strategic use of partnerships; Focus on needs of clients and customers; and Strategic management of people.... During the forum, the Comptroller General offered several options to facilitate transformation and to achieve high performance in the federal government."]

["In what could be a somber warning for California's 3 million overweight kids, a leading state health expert has discovered more adults are dying of diabetes in the same areas where childhood obesity thrives. Pediatricians treating the wave of plump patients say 60 to 80 percent of them will stay fat as adults and have a higher risk of developing heart disease, kidney failure, blindness and other diabetes-related diseases later in life.... Goldstein says it's easy to scan ZIP codes and see that the poor neighborhoods without grocery stores and safe places to exercise are producing more unhealthy kids." San Francisco Chronicle (February 27, 2004) 1.]

["Responding to a growing number of people without health insurance, Ventura County is expanding steeply discounted rates at its only public hospital to make it more affordable to working families. Under the plan, rates are tiered by income and family size. Patients with household incomes near $30,000 qualify for a 75% discount or a charge equal to 50% of Medicare rates, whichever is lower. But the working poor are not the only ones eligible for a discount. Families with a $75,000 income qualify for a 25% discount or a payment equal to 80% of Medicare rates." Los Angeles Times (February 11, 2004) 1.]

["According to the audit, state health officials failed to collect rebates that pharmaceutical companies owed under a 1990 federal law that requires drug makers to sell prescription drugs to state health programs at a reduced rate. Medi-Cal in 2004 is expected to spend $5 billion on drugs and collect about $1.5 billion in rebates, Stan Rosenstein, Department of Health Services deputy director of medical care services, said. The audit also found that state accounting system failures and incomplete documentation contributed to the backlog of rebates, some of which date from 1991." Orange County Register (February 5, 2004) 1.]

["California's program for substance abuse treatment services ... provides a patchwork of services.... In this report, we recommend an approach for addressing these concerns which would provide greater authority and resources for community-based services, contain the fast-growing costs of methadone treatment, and integrate a new and potentially more cost-effective mode of treatment into Drug Medi-Cal that does not require a net increase in state General Fund resources."]

"Dream Home Nightmares: Difficulties Abound for Owners Who Seek to Recover for Defects in a House They Have Already Purchased." By Martha Neil. IN: ABA Journal, vol. 90, no. 2 (February 2004) pp. 47-53.

["Resolving conflicts over defects and repairs of houses or condominiums can be difficult, and sometimes prohibitively expensive, even though changes in the law in recent years have generally imposed more duties on sellers of real estate and their agents to disclose defects, including environmental hazards, to buyers."]

["Cases of Elder Abuse is Underreported: Cases of elder abuse are underreported and are resolved inconsistently nationwide due to significant differences in laws between states, according to a new study. The study is thought to be the first to compare rates of elder abuse to laws in all 50 states.... States that require mandatory reporting and tracking of elder abuse reports have a much higher investigation rates than states without such requirements." NewsFindLaw.com (December 2,2003) 1.]

["Current federal law allows for substantial alignment in key areas of procedural requirements and eligibility policy. This flexibility can be used to create a system in which it is far easier for families to access program benefits and for states to administer those benefits."]

["Overall, the national caseload remained essentially flat, declining by 0.1 percent between June and September 2003. Over the past year (September 2002-September 2003), the national caseload increased by 0.4 percent, and 30 states had caseload increases." U.S. Newswire (February 17, 2004) 1.]

["Working in consultation with state and local officials, the partner organizations developed three models of cross-system integration focusing on WIA-TANF integration, comprehensive services for children and families; and benefits simplification. The components of these models were then analyzed to determine whether current federal laws or regulations permitted, prohibited or hindered the implementation of models. This paper identifies and analyzes legal issues faced in efforts to integrate TANF and WIA funding into a single workforce system."]

["New York drivers hung up their cell phones for a while when the state banned them three years ago, but are back to using hand-held models at nearly the same rate they were before the ban, a study showed.... The report attributed the behavior mostly to a lack of publicity, a possible warning to the other states and cities considering similar bans." Associated Press (February 4, 2004) 1.]

["Highway maintenance contracting is used by many states to increase flexibility, ensure high quality and reduce cost for vital highway infrastructure. These positive results are distorted by a recent Washington State Department of Transportation analysis of highway maintenance contracting. Competitive contracting is a vital component of a modern and efficient state government. For that reason Washington Policy Center and Reason Foundation have combined to provide a critical review of the WSDOT research."]

[The following studies, reports, and documents have been ordered or requested, but have not yet arrived. Requests may be placed, and copies will be provided when the material arrives.]

ENERGY

ALTERNATIVE FUELS

The Hydrogen Economy: Opportunities, Costs, Barriers, and Research and Development Needs. By the Committee on Alternatives and Strategies for Future Hydrogen Production and Use, National Research Council. (National Academies Press, Washington, DC) 2004. 394 p.

["The report is perhaps the most comprehensive nonpartisan attempt yet to analyze hydrogen's potential, along with its drawbacks.... Even if the most optimistic predictions prove true, and the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicles reach commercial showrooms by 2015, it would take at least another quarter-century before they have a major impact on the market, the panel concluded.... Given the risks of the hydrogen bubble bursting, the academy panel urged the Bush administration to adopt a 'balanced portfolio' of energy research projects as a fallback." San Francisco Chronicle (February 9, 2003) 1.]

Western Lawmakers Meet the Media. Council of State Governments-WEST (CSG-WEST) Special Report. (CSG-WEST, Sacramento, California) Winter 2003. 8 p.

["This report provides information on a debate between lawmakers and a panel of journalists at an annual meeting of Western lawmakers. It includes: "Is Statehouse Coverage Adequate? Is it Accurate?" "Informal Rules of the Road from Statehouse Reporters;" "Ten Commandments on How to Avoid Bad Press;" "Learning to Handle the Media;" "How to Work with the News Media;" and others. NOTE: Western Lawmakers Meet the Media will be available for 3-day loan.]